Happy New Year's everyone! Stay safe out there and let's hope for the best this year!

"Wonder awaits you…" King halfheartedly announces to the passing citizens. He is wearing two billboards strapped over his shoulder with one in the front and the other on the back. Both of them are drawn by Luz and Amity in colored pencils of Eda's stand with labels stating, 'Bazaar of Human Relics.' "Stop by our shop and peruse the many unique artifacts of a race from another world. Trinkets and baubles and-"

A passerby bumps against King and spills a bit of soda onto the little guy. "Hey!" he shouts, wiping it away. "Watch it buddy-!" Another passerby bumps into him. A teenage girl runs through and sneaks a quick pet on his fur. A large bipedal monster citizen stomps by, causing King to bounce off the ground from the vibrations and fall on his back. For a small child to hop onto his chest and hops off with a giggle.

A high-pitched sound that can only be described as a tea kettle brewing emits from the King as he struggles to lift himself back up, but the overbearing boards are weighing him down. "Eda!" he shouts over to her, "Can I take this stupid thing off me yet!? I feel like an idiot!"

"That's how you know the punishment is working!" Eda shouts back behind the counter, "You're lucky after what you done, that I didn't tie you to a pole and place a bucket of rotten tomatoes nearby!" She nonchalantly reaches out and stops Luz by grabbing the collar of her shirt and says, "Don't help him, it builds character."

"Ohh…" Luz groans, "But he's like a widdle baby turtle."

"I'm not paying you to help turtles, Luz."

"But you never paid me."

"I'm not letting you live in my house to help turtles, Luz. Here," Eda bends down and picks up a box of various human objects and drops it onto the girl. "Sort these out with Amity. Inventory's going out faster than I can manage."

"Never seen the place this packed before," Luz noted. She been to the usual plaza where Eda sets up her shop and seen other various stalls too, but the entire area is densely packed with not just people but other shops too. Every square inch is just bustling with people, humanoids, and not-so-humanoids.

"With the restrictions lifted after we dumped that burglar to the guards, everyone and their mothers are out here now to indulge themselves. They even reopened the fair since that piranha-bowl game attendant made a full recovery."

"Man, you wouldn't think this town was just attacked yesterday."

"Eh, we all seen worse. This place could be in a middle of a typhoon and you'll still have suckers lining up for killer deals."

Luz chuckles and readjusts her grip on the box, "Reminds me of Black Friday."

"Sounds ominous, tell me about it later." Eda ducks down to scrounge for her products, "Now, when you're facing this many people looking for a good deal to buy, you got to take every step you can to take advantage of these suckers. Take this weird statue with a tail for example."

Eda pulls out what's clearly a lamp and slaps a price label on it stating 60 snails, but the number is crossed out for the discounted price of 30 snails instead.

"Wait, I thought you were selling it for that much," Luz wondered.

"That's the beauty of it, kid." Eda places the lamp down only to have a customer grab it and drop a sack of snails in its place. She collects her earnings with a snide grin and chuckles, "If we keep this up, I could achieve my dream of swimming in a bathtub of gold. They always make it seem so wallowingly in the cartoons… Now go on then, get back to your little girlfriend before she burns a hole in our stand with that glare of hers."

Luz blushes in embarrassment from hearing Eda refer to Amity that way. Not to mention how she dropped the title down on her like that. It was easy for Luz to tease Amity with but having someone like Eda say it feels so exposing. Like the first time her mom found her notebook drawings of Azura when she got into the series.

She nods at Eda and answers with, "No problem, maAAAaaasterrr…?" She roughly transitioned her words to avoid accidentally saying 'mami' causing Eda to cast a strange look at her.

"… I'll pretend to forget this if you do too. Now quit idling and get to it!" Eda lifts the curtain and gently guides her through.

Luz eagerly ducks under the curtain they set up leading to the back side of the stand that is adjacent to other stalls, creating a sort of alleyway where the customers would not be walking through. One of the owners from a few stalls down was caught dumping the trash bag into the dumpster and stops to wave at Luz. She waves back and turns away just as tentacles emerge from the trash and pulls the man in without a sound.

"I'm back!" she greeted before dropping the crate between them. Luz takes her seat on a bucket in front of her. Amity manages a small smile while sitting on a small box with her head resting on her hands before resuming to her gloomy expression with a silent sigh.

"You okay?"

"No, I'm just thrilled with our day being taken up by manual labor while everyone is out there stuffing their faces, browsing shops, and having a good time." Her sarcastic reply was meant to be directed at Eda, but Luz couldn't help but blame herself for asking her out last night. They didn't get to talk about the change of plans since Amity suddenly ran upstairs after realizing how long she held Luz's face for. Thinking back on it now, it was extremely embarrassing what she did.

Luz's conscious seems to manifest itself as a wingman and eggs her on to say something to cheer her up. "I know this sets back our plan a bit but we're not going to be stuck here forever," Luz explains as she picks through the objects, "If we get everything done soon, Eda will have no choice but to let us go."

Amity didn't respond and just points over to the pile of human junk nearly towering over the stand itself with its size behind Luz. A sizeable heap of appliances, clothes, and literal garbage that will likely take them hours to sort through.

Her wingman-conscious elbows her. "W-well, they say Rome wasn't built in a day but that's only because they didn't have us!" she exclaims.

"What the heck is a Rome?"

"It's a country… I think? And the expression means-nevermind, just trying to look at the bright side."

Amity manages a smile, "You always do… I didn't mean to be negative. It's just hard being stuck in the middle of all this bustling activity with the fair close by. An ideal place for our first date and yet here we are…"

"Yeah…" Luz admitted, "Would have been much nicer playing games and eating junk food than sorting through my people's… junk." She pulls out a broken wire coat hanger and fought the instinct of throwing it away and instead tosses it to the pile for sale. "Guess I really blew it for us, huh?"

"Hey, part of this is my fault too. And King's," Amity added, "But he's getting it worse than us. I would rather die than to be in his shoes right now.

"And besides, while I wouldn't want to count this as our first date, I wouldn't count it as a bad one either. As long as we're… you know, still doing stuff together… it's not so bad." Amity felt her struggle with picking the right words was akin to rock climbing only to completely slip and plummet at the end there.

She didn't dare to see Luz's face now and pretends to be occupied in sorting through the human collections. Carefully identifying the alien objects before her and trying to sort them to their proper categories. Which is not so easy with Eda having the piles labeled as gizmos, whatzits, and thingamabobs.

"Hey, Amity look at me!" She stubbornly raises her head to meet Luz wearing a plastic getup of square-framed glasses, a comically large nose, and a pretty sweet 'stache. "They weren't kidding about puberty, that stuff hits you like a truck."

Amity bursts into laughter, covering her mouth in one hand and the other clutching at her sides. Luz furrows her brows, causing another rise to come out of her.

"Take them off! Please!" Amity begs between her laughs. Luz gleefully smiles and obeys as Amity wipes a tear from her eyes. "What is that? Is that supposed to be some human disguise?"

"Sort of, yeah!" Luz nods, "We humans are masters of trickery. Wanna try them on?"

Amity lifts her hand up, "No thank you, I'll pass."

"Suit yourself!" Amity watches her toss the pair into a pile and looks back at the objects before her. She never had much interest in human technology before since it was common knowledge about humans being set back by generations without magic. But after experiencing the things Luz showed her and the odd similarities between their world, Amity suddenly finds it fascinating.

She pulls out a red plastic square from the box and inspects it closely. At the bottom of both sides are white dials with a clear plastic screen with a messy black image in the center. Curious, Amity gives it a gentle shake and notices the black image fading away.

"What the?" Amity mutters loud enough for Luz to look up and recognize the tablet in her hands.

"Hey! An Etch-A-Sketch!"

Amity drops the device back into the pile and withdrew her hands, "An itchy what!?"

"Etch!" Luz clarifies before giggling, "An Etch-A-Sketch!" She picks the tablet back up and gives it a rigorous shake to clear out the image. "Oh man, I used to play with this as a kid. It's a toy that lets you create line art with these two little knobs here, sort of like drawing but in one endless stroke since you can't reposition, and one mistake means you have to start all over."

"That sounds… unnecessarily complicated," said Amity.

"That's the point! It's supposed to be challenging," Luz explains, "Here, I'll try drawing you." She fiddles with the device in hand to get the feeling right then goes to work on trying to capture Amity's image.

Hesitating whether she could move without disrupting Luz's drawing, Amity looks between the stalls to the outside area where customers are seen browsing through. Envious of their freedom to enjoy themselves. Even if it was going to take a while, the thought of them dating eventually fills her with a nauseating feeling of excitement. It takes so much out of her to keep her face from wearing that giddiness.

"Done!" Luz proudly declared. Amity turns back to see the girl carefully handing the tablet over to her like she's presenting a gift to royalty. "Your portrait, madam."

Silly. Amity smiles and takes the tablet back and gently turn it over to see the work for herself. She pauses at the rough image of herself that is close-up on her face. The head and hair are pretty good, but the facial details are way off thanks to the lines connecting between them.

Luz expected the reaction and chuckles, "Sorry, but it has been a while since I held one before."

"Why a unibrow?" Amity mutters in a monotone.

"I wasn't thinking when I tried doing the eyebrows!" Luz cries, "But if you look at it in a different way, we can say its your evil twin, Enmity!"

That got a laugh out of her. "Enmity?" Amity repeated, "You seem rather quick on the name."

"I been told it's a talent of mine, and the idea of fighting your evil half is really cool. Like that part in the Good Witch Azura when she battles against Darkzura!"

"Oh yeah, when she entered the Cavern of Reflection and had to face her manifestation of her bottled fears and emotions. Ah, that fight was amazing. And for Azura to end it peacefully by accepting her other half was such a touching moment."

"I know right!" Luz exclaims. Finally, someone who actually acknowledges the brilliant narrative of the series.

"Still, I already got a couple of evil twins at home. I think I'll pass." Amity gently places the tablet next to her seat and goes back to work. Admittedly a little eager to see what else Luz can share about her world.

But what to pick, she wonders. Almost everything in the box just about looks as odd as the next… except for what clearly appears to be a book wedged to the side. Amity picks at it while Luz plays with a bundle of intertwined dead snakes (cables) and manages to pull it out. On the cover, it reads "Spanish Dictionary."

Spanish? Wasn't that the name of the human dialect Luz occasionally speaks in?

"Man!" Amity quickly hides the book in her bag next to her as Luz suddenly cries out while finding herself entangled in a nest of snakes, "I swear these things have a mind of their own!"

"What do you humans do with those things?"

"Pretty much everything, nowadays. I can't go too much into detail but let's just say we humans found a way to harness power without the use of magic." Luz gives up on salvaging what she could out of the bundle and just tosses them away. She takes another look back inside and notice a familiar piece of clothing.

"Oh my gosh, no way!" Luz eagerly digs through the contents and pulls out a dirty sweater with the same design as she owns only with a pink color instead of blue. "Another cat-ear hoodie! Now why would anyone throw this away over loose threads and a few tears? I'll fix you up once we go home."

"Stealing from your teacher, are we?" Amity teases while making sure the dictionary stays well hidden in her bag.

Luz quickly presses a finger against her lips. "Shh! You want Eda to tan my hide!? I'm not taking it for myself! I just want to give it some love before she sells it as a rain catcher or something," she said as she neatly folds the sweater on her lap.

"Your secret is safe with me," Amity giggles. Feeling a little bold, she slowly then adds "But if you wanted to shop for clothes… you could've just waited until our date."

Luz flusters at the idea of them shopping together for clothes but shakes her head, "T-that sounds fun, but I don't have much on me right now. I should probably consider asking for an allowance now that I think about it…"

Amity answers a bit too hastily with, "Then I'll cover for you! I mean, as a gift for our first date. Or whatever you want, you know, if it doesn't have to be new clothes."

"Amity Blight," Luz slyly grins, "Are you trying to spoil me?"

"Pfft!" Amity averts her head to hide her flustered face and vigorously shakes her head at the idea. "What!? Don't be ridiculous!"

"Are you sure?" Luz says while leaning closer to the girl to get a good look at her. "Because it sounds like someone wants to impress their girlfriend to me…"

Amity suppresses her voice and emits a loud whine. Eda pulls back the curtain and sticks her head out to them, "Hey! I'm not going to forcefully separate you lovebirds but keep the volume on the flirting down to a zero. It's already hard enough for me not to lose my lunch with dealing some of these customer's breaths!"

The man at the counter hears her and tests his own breath against his hand and cringes. "Eugh… sorry, the doctors said it's a serious condition and possibly terminal."

"Lucky for you, my good man, I got just the thing you need." Eda snaps her fingers and pops a deodorant in her hand. "Human Ice Cream! Never melts and guarantees to eliminate any bad mouth odors. Just for 15 snails."

The customer uncaps the container and frowns, "Hey, there's a hair on this one!"

"20 snails."

"Ah, dang it."

The girls watch the man drop off his payment just before Eda lets the curtain fall back again. Amity sighs and was about to continue doing her work before receiving a light nudge from Luz.

She gestures Amity to lean closer and whispers, "I just got a great idea! Let's keep flirting!"

"W-what!?" Amity cries before getting shushed again. She loudly whispers, "What?"

"Hear me out! I been with Eda long enough to know if there's something either me or King do that bothers her, she just lets us go. If we keep flirting, she'll have to relent and let us go on our date!"

"I have several problems with this plan!" Amity squeaks.

"Don't worry! Didn't you practice for this kind of thing?"

Amity blushes, "You swore to never speak of that again!"

"I'm kidding! They don't have to be good. The worst they are the better chance we get at annoying Eda!" Luz whispered back, "You do want to go on this date, right?"

She does. And she really hates that she does now. It wasn't so much the fear of what other repercussion could happen by intentionally annoying the Owl Lady, but more so over the embarrassment of having both her and Luz hearing it.

"You go first!" Amity pleaded. "It's your idea and I need some prep time!"

"O-okay, that's fair…" Luz coughs and clears her throat. Doing it on the spot is a different feeling entirely. "Hey, Amity!" she loudly speaks, "Are you from Tennessee?"

"… what's that?"

"Because you're the-oh… right, should've known that wouldn't work." Luz scratches her head as she filters out all the bad lines that has to do with her home world before coming up with another one, "Here's one! So, Amity. Did it hurt?"

Amity frowns, "Did what hurt?"

She barely could stifle her giggles as she embarrassingly answers with, "You know, when you fell from heaven?"

Luz could hear Eda suddenly letting out a groan and takes it as a success. But what she didn't expect is to see Amity getting redder and letting out a nervous giggle. For a moment, Luz wondered if it actually had work on her but shrugs it off as just her attempt of suppressing the urge to laugh too.

And that would be the case had it been anyone else. But to hear it from a goofball like Luz felt just as effective to her no matter how lame or terrible it can be. Her brain is like an egg cracked open upon a hot skillet.

"Your turn!"

"H-huh? N-no! I'm not ready yet!"

Luz pouts but she knows better than to push her for it. It's already too hard to listen to herself using cheesy lines. She needs something fresh. Something gushy enough to make Eda regret living.

"Oh! Hey, Amity, have I shown you this new spell I discovered?" Luz asks as she pulls out a pencil and some papers.

"A new spell?" Amity perks up with intrigue, "What is it?"

Luz begins drawing on the paper between them. First, she puts down a complete circle and adds about three small lines with one at the top, one at the bottom left, and one at the bottom right. She then draws a smaller circle connecting the lines together within and finally adds a small heart in the center.

Amity widens her eyes at the realization as Luz takes the paper and slaps it on her forehead. "A love spell!" she declares, "Uh oh! Looks like it's working!"

For a moment, Amity could have sworn her heart stopped. Her lips parted but her voice could barely make any coherent words. It was more akin to a sputtering car exhaust.

Luz lifts the paper from her eyes, "Was it that bad?"

"H-how do you just do this stuff on the fly!?" Amity squeals, unable to keep her pitch lower.

"I'm a sucker for romantic antics! I don't know!"

"Knock it off back there!" shouted Eda.

"Looks like its working!" Luz whispered, "Come on Amity. I can't do this alone!"

Despite her attempts at stalling, Amity couldn't focus with her mind going to mush by Luz's words. So many things her heart wants to say but her super-ego is exhaustively working overtime to keep the flood back.

Finally pressured enough to go into action, Amity shakingly raises her hand. This is it. The moment she knew that would come eventually. "H-hey Luz…" She snaps her fingers and points, "You uh… you like reading Good Witch Azura? Because that's… pretty cool."

The curtains suddenly get drawn back with Eda shouting, "ALRIGHT, ENOUGH! You want your stupid date!? Then go! Get out of here! You both disgust me but I fully support and respect your relationship!" Without waiting for either of the girls to move, she pulls out a broom and starts swinging wildly at the girls. Amity bolts off her chair with Luz falling over and runs off on all fours while making scared whines.

Eda watches them disappear as she raises the broom over her head, "You two better have fun now, you hear!? And don't you dare come back until it starts getting dark!" She huffs and breathes in the air she lost from yelling before hearing the applause of a crowd outside of her stand. Eda turns around and looks at the broom in her hand.

"… Uh, and that's your live demonstration of the 'Human Discipline Stick!' A perfect tool to whip your kids into shape. Only for 40 snails, no refunds, and we're not liable for any injuries or passive aggressive remarks from your children. Any takers?"

After getting as far away from Eda's wrath as they could, the two finally came to a stop and leans against a building to catch their breaths before laughing and cheering for their success. "See?" Luz says in between pants, "Didn't I say it would work out?"

"Yeah…" Amity breathes, "Not sure if I ever want to do that again…"

"I thought it was cute."

"Shut up…" Luz tries to sneak a glance at Amity's face as she shies away again and giggles. They are finally free from Eda's clutches but after the rush they had from running away, the sickening feeling of excitement caught up to them.

"Haha… so I guess we're officially starting it now?" Luz asks.

Amity felt her legs trembling but manages to stand up straight. "Yeah," she answers timidly, "If you still want to, that is?"

"I do, yeah!"

"Oh… cool."

"Yup."

"Mhm."

The awkwardness hangs in the between them, both unsure what to do now. Neither of them really has any prior dating experience besides what Amity usually hears from her old friends and Luz seeing what its like through books and television.

Fortunately, Eda's advice didn't go to waste as Luz remembers what she said to her. If it's really just like hanging out with a friend that you happen to like, then it doesn't have to be treated any different either. Luz musters up her courage and suggests, "You want to head straight to the Fair or look around first?"

"The Fair sounds fun but…" Amity fidgets with her hands at the idea of them walking around in public. Games are nice but doing some sightseeing would provide better opportunities to get to know Luz better. "I rather we take things slow first, if you don't mind."

"Of course, I don't mind!" Luz cheerfully answers and pulls onto Amity's arm to get going. She felt her arm stiffening and sees her head looking down at her hands holding onto her arm. Luz thought she must have overstepped her boundary and let's go. "Oh, sorry. You prefer we just walk side-by-side?"

"No!" Amity blurted, with red rising in her cheeks. She looks down and offers her hand to Luz and stammers, "T-there's a lot of people out here so… you know… it's better we stick t-together this way."

Watching Amity getting this flustered before her made Luz felt like she really hit a jackpot in this world. Some of her embarrassment seem to rub off on her too as she hesitantly takes her hand into her own. Luz felt the weight of her breathing and silently begs to her own body not to get her hand clammy. "Ready to go?" Luz asks in an almost quiet tone.

Amity nods and follows her out into the streets bustling with many citizens of the Boiling Isles. Finally starting their date together.

~/~

Okay Luz, don't panic. You're just hanging out with a good friend. A pretty girl who somehow likes you enough to tolerate your presence and be seen holding hands in public with. Nothing wrong with that. Just. Don't. Blow it.

"Are you okay, Luz?"

"Hm?" Luz turns to Amity giving her a concerned look. Despite them holding hands, the two unconsciously maintaining a little more than necessary distance apart. "Oh, I'm fine! Just a little parched, you know. Hehe."

"We can stop by for some drinks first," Amity suggested and points to a stand being attended by a lady serving various teas with black pearls inside.

Luz beams, "Ooh, are those bobas? I never did get to try them!"

"Bobas?" Amity looks at the contents in the customer's drinks. "Oh, you mean those things… wait, are you sure you want that? Despite of everything that happened to you?"

Luz wasn't sure what Amity meant by that. She probably should inquire about it but the excitement of sucking one of those little beads through the straw got her nearly bouncing in one spot. "Why not? I ain't afraid of those things hitting my throat. That's what makes it so fun!"

Amity shrugs as she's feeling up for it too and walks with her to the line of people. When it's finally their turn, Luz lets go of her hand to prop herself up the counter to get a good look at the drink's menu.

"Welcome!" the lady greeted them, "Would you both like to try our special lemonade paunch tea?"

"Lemonade punch? Sure, sounds great!" Luz grins.

Amity raises her hand, "One for me too then."

The lady collects their payment and brings their cups forward. She spoons a generous helping of pearls into the cups before pouring in the lemonade mixture to the brim. She seals them with lids and pierces both with thick straws and slides to them before ringing up the next customer.

Luz eagerly takes her drink and carefully sips to grab one of the pearls at the bottom. A black bead shoots up the straw and gives her a delightful chewy snack pairing well with the lemonade.

"Mmm, this is great!" Luz smacks her lips, "Not sure why she calls it a lemonade punch, I'm getting more of a tea kind of taste."

"No, not punch. Paunch," Amity corrects her, "You know, the abdomen?"

Luz pauses mid-sip. "The what?"

"… you do realize these black little things are candied spider bellies, right?"

There was a few of them already in her mouth and Luz felt the urge to spit and throw up the other one. But she holds it back with her hand, not wanting to disgust Amity and forces herself to swallow the rest. Her throat felt painful and sent shivers down her spine. Her stomach churns and cringes at the contents it received. After that was done, she lets out an "Aaa… man, vengeance tastes… horribly sweet."

Amity couldn't help but to laugh as Luz gingerly dumps her cup into the trash. She did feel guilty for not letting her know and got her a couple of water bottles to chug down. But it did help pulled them out of the awkwardness of starting off their date together as they continue laughing about it together.

The two wanders around the streets, slowly making their way to the Fair while checking and stopping at various shops first. Mostly at some places that serves food, more so to watch the vendors cook instead of ordering.

"Do humans have things like this in your world?" Amity asks.

"Oh yeah! All types of carnivals and street markets! I remember when I was little how I keep pestering my mom to let me eat at nearly ever street food we pass through." Luz then chuckles at a memory and says, "I finally learned my lesson when I sneaked off and ordered one myself. I spent the rest of the night resting my head on her lap going through the worse stomach pains ever."

"Did you now?" Amity mused while staring at the seared tentacle on a stick in Luz's hand.

"What?" Luz takes a bite from it, "I'm moar careful now. Want shome?" Amity fends off the offer with a wave of her hand and watches her dig in. Her parents were the same in forbidding her from eating street food when she was young too. Though she doubts the reasons were entirely the same as Luz's. Her siblings did try to goad her into eating at one of the more questionable places before.

"Amity!" Luz nudges her with her elbow and points at the clothing/costume store building that has set up an outdoor selection complete with additional fitting room stalls. Luz tosses her stick away and pulls Amity to follow her.

"W-whoa! Hey, what's got into you?"

Luz stops in front of the selection and starts picking through them. "You ever tried picking out random outfits and throwing them together?" she explains.

"What like that weird tux and skirt combo you had back at Grom?"

"Hey!" sneered Luz, "You said I looked nice!"

"And weird," Amity said with a smile and folded arms.

Satisfied with her selection, Luz heads over to the fitting room and dumps them onto the seat. "Well wait till you see this then," she exclaims before shutting the curtain behind her. Amity waits patiently and could faintly hear Luz struggling with some of the outfits.

After a few minutes later, Luz pulls back the curtains to reveal her attire. On her head sits a white cowboy hat Luz pulled from the human fashion section. Clashing with the black, traditional witch garb that may be two sizes too big for her. Green tights for below with a pair of steel-toed brown boots. Luz holds out her hand to stop for a moment before adorning sunglasses with stripped lenses.

"Pfft!" Amity covers her mouth but couldn't stop her laughter from getting out. "What the heck is that?"

"I'm a Cow-Witch!" Luz tips her hat proudly, "Bringing magic to this lawless land!"

"Cow? Oh, is that what the white and black color is supposed to reference?"

"No, it's the hat and boots that are-oh," Luz lowers the glasses her eyes to look in the mirror inside the fitting stall. "Yeah, I guess I can see that."

"It's so ugly, get out of that!" Amity giggled.

"Not until you give it a try too!"

"What? Okay, fine. Now hurry up, you're embarrassing me!"

Luz went back inside to change into her regular attire. Meanwhile, Amity peruse her options. The idea of throwing stuff together to make terrible outfits doesn't appeal to her even as a joke. Years of maintaining her image to others have instilled that into her. It be nice if she could just be free to pair together with what she wants Luz to see her in instead… or maybe she could.

"Just so we're clear, I'm free to use anything together, right?" she asks.

"Whatever you want!" Luz calls out, "The sky's the limit!" She throws back the curtain with the clothes she pulled from just for Amity to suddenly rush in to take the stall for herself. Luz shrugs and goes to return the clothes while waiting for Amity to finish with what she got in store.

"So, what's your method?" Luz asks, too eager to wait. "Going for something zany or something wacky?"

"Isn't that the same thing?"

"I don't know, is it?"

"It might be… a little different than what you could expect…"

"Ooh," Luz excitedly taps her fingers together. She does love a good surprise.

Nearly ten minutes have passed, and it became clear that Amity seems to be taking a much longer time than expected. "Is everything alright in there?" inquired Luz.

"S-sorry! I'm just… having second thoughts on this."

"Hey no worries," Luz reassures her, "It's all in the name of fun. No judgement here."

"Okay… I'm coming out now." She gingerly pulls the curtain back and reveals herself to Luz whose mind went completely blank. Instead of any funny outfits or silly costumes, Amity went with a summer theme. A white laced dress connected to a pink skirt with floral details complete with a sun hat that should have been on Amity's head but is being used instead to hide most of her face with only her eyes peeking out.

"W-what do you think?"

"Hermosa," uttered Luz.

"What?"

"What?" Luz blinks before wildly flailing her arms dismissively as her cheeks began to take a brighter color. "Oh! I'm just saying you look good is all! Yeah! Hehe…" It was the compliment she hoped for, but the way Luz reacted after saying that word got Amity feeling suspicious.

"Thanks… I need a minute." Without warning, Amity rushes to her bag she left on the table and then withdraws back into the fitting room with the curtains shut behind her. Luz stands in bewilderment of what just happened and wondered if she had done or said anything wrong.

Amity silently pulls out the Spanish dictionary and quickly flips through the pages. "Hermosa, hermosa, hermosa," she keeps repeating to herself, desperately keeping the word ingrained into her mind. "Come on! What does it mean!?"

"Hey, Luz!"

"What's up!"

Amity froze to the familiar sound of those voices outside of the stall. Her sudden interest completely dropped as fear took hold of her completely. The worst possible outcome that could have happened on their date.

"Emira!? Edric!?" Luz exclaims as the Blight twin waves and approaches her.

"Whatcha doing here, cutie?" Emira teased at the blushing human, unaware of causing spite to rise in her little sister hiding in the fitting stall.

"Nothing!" Luz answers immediately, remembering the promise she made to Amity. "What are you two doing here?"

"Believe it or not, staying cooped up in our hotel room is exhaustively boring," Edric groans while leaning against one of the tables of folded clothes. "Heard the fair's back in town and figured to give it another chance before the end of our school break."

"And to check on the little rascal we dumped on you. Sorry about that," Emira chuckles, "So where is she, anyway?"

"Who?" Luz blurted.

The twins exchange glances at each other and smiles back at Luz assuming it as a joke. "You know, the little firecracker who isn't and will never be cool as us. Goes to the same year as you. Always looks like she's bored and got better things to do?" hinted Emira.

"She's not dead, right?" Edric asks, letting a bit of genuine concern slip from his voice. "Don't get me wrong, your mentor is totally cool and all, but I still don't know if she was joking about letting that monster eat us back in the mountains and honestly it keeps me awake at night."

"Oh, right! Amity! Of course…" Luz nervously chuckles, trying not to glance at the fitting stall she's in. "Uh, she's not here! You know her, always missing out on the fun… hehe…"

Emira leans close to Luz and peers into her eyes. Worried that the girl might possess some magical talent of reading people's emotions, Luz kept her mind filled with nothing trash thoughts like King dancing around in her otter costume.

Emira grins, "Is that so?" Luz nods vigorously, as if that didn't already give it away.

"Then what is this doing here?" Edric said, revealing the handbag belonging to Amity.

"That's-! Uh…" Luz frantically glances around trying to think of something to get herself out of this. "… I stole it."

"Hardcore," Emira teased before taking the bag from Edric, "But seriously, lying to us on her behalf? Oh Luz, I thought we were friends."

"Betrayal cuts deep, you know," chimed Edric.

"It's nothing personal!" Luz pleaded, "It's just… she saw you guys coming and ran! Yeah, and don't bother asking where, I wasn't able to see since this place is sooo crowded!"

Not a solid lie, but it was believable enough for the twins to buy it. Edric chuckles to himself at the idea of his sister running with her tail between her legs while Emira just clicks her tongue and shakes her head. "Some friend she is, huh? You gave her shelter and food, and yet she didn't hesitate to leave you behind against a feral pack of twins," playfully chided Emira.

"It's not like that…" Luz mutters.

"But no worries, I know a couple of Blights who prefer to hang out with you." Emira hooks her arm around Luz's right while Edric takes her left.

"W-wait!" Luz suddenly felt her feet lifted off from the air. "Shouldn't we go looking for her? Like, separately to cover more ground?"

The twins ponder for a moment together before they both shook their heads and say, "Nah."

"Come on, Luz, she had you for almost a whole week. Let us have a turn," pleaded Emira. "If Mittens wants to hang out with you then she should be here and not cowered away from us."

"But Amity-"

"And away we go!" Edric announces as the twins charges off into the direction of the Fair with Luz held in their arms.

Amity throws back the curtain, resisting the urge to rip them off from their holders. She kicks the leg of a table, ignoring the pain shooting through her foot and groans. It must be the first time in history for someone having their date stolen not just by one but both twins.

Amity has been looking forward to this all night long and they just had to drop in unannounced and drag her girlfriend away.

But what can she do now? Obviously, she's not going to let them take Luz away from her and waste time on their date. But they're not simply going to let her shoo them away even if she just asks. With how nosy they are, she be risking a chance of letting them know about their new relationship. And Luz is doing her best to keep it a secret and has no choice but to go along with them.

"Ugh!" Amity screeches. "Out of all the days they could have done this! I just wish there were some way I can get them off my back!" She was about to go and follow them, but someone grabs her by the arm and spun her around to face the employee of the store who grunts and points at her unpurchased clothes. Amity sighs and walks back into the changing stall.

After giving them back the clothes, Amity follows down the path her head deep in thoughts of trying to acquire a plan of strategy to get Luz back without the twins getting involved or a hint of whatever is going on between them.

With nothing coming to mind, she eventually catches up with them as she finds the three over at one of the stands selling various masks. Emira and Edric seems eager to play with them while Luz half-heartedly joins in, still obviously concerned with leaving Amity behind.

Using another stand as a cover for her to get close, Amity tries again to think her method of approach when she suddenly hears someone speaking to her from behind. "Whoa Amity, since when did you take an interest in studying humans?"

"Huh!?" Amity spun around to see Gus crouching next to her and politely waves. "Oh, it's you!" she exclaims. Gus frowns and folded his arms.

"What?"

"What do you mean 'what?' Do you seriously still did not remember my name?"

"Of course, I do!" Amity replied, although a bit unsure. His scowl only deepens as he waits patiently for her to say it. "It's uh… Gus, right?"

His expression immediately takes a 180 as he grins and says, "You do remember! Sorry for doubting you. What's up?"

Amity turns back to the masks stand and finds the trio missing. She sighs and stands up from her spot, "Nothing… just sibling trouble."

"Rough," Gus nods, "I mean I don't have brothers or sisters myself, but if its anything like dealing with my illusions then I sympathize with ya."

"Illusions? Oh, right. Luz said you were in that track…" An idea takes root in her head and springs to life. "That's right! Gus, I don't mean to offend or anything, but are you any good with illusions?"

He huffs and crosses his arms, "Am I any good? Let me show you something real quick." Gus gestures Amity to follow him through the stands and across the next plaza where they take cover behind some boxes. He points over to an area where an older man is seen standing with a kid. Amity squints her eyes for a better look before realizing that the kid next to him is a perfect copy of Gus.

"Does that answer your question?" he proudly asks.

"You made a copy of yourself to play hooky with your own dad?"

"Hey, don't say it like that!" Gus replies offended by the remark. "I love my dad, but he always drags me through a lot of places he likes and tells me nothing but stories about when he was young. I heard Eda stationed her shop somewhere selling human knickknacks, so I had step out to look for it myself. I saw Luz and was about to ask her before I noticed you were hiding."

"Then this is perfect!" Amity exclaims, "Gus! You mind if I ask a huge favor?"

"Uh… sure, I guess. What's up?"

"Okay, so me and Luz were in a middle of our date, but I want to keep it a secret from my family. Not that the twins would rat me out, it's just they're incredibly annoying. They got to her while I was occupied, and I need some sort of diversion to get her back. If you help me out, I'll tell you where Eda's shop is!"

Gus blankly stares back at Amity for a moment before slowly raising his hands between them, "Okay… a lot to digest there. But I'll start with the main course first: did you just say you two are dating?"

Amity realizes her mistake and sucks in her lips, "Uh… no…?"

"I'm pretty sure you did. Otherwise, the rest of what you just said wouldn't make any sense."

"Okay, so we are!" Amity squeaks, "What of it!?"

"Hey! I didn't say anything!" Gus said defensively, "Although it's kind of sudden. I mean you went from hating her guts to being friends to suddenly live under the same roof and going out with her."

Amity sighs, "A lot has happened over the week… but yeah, we were going to tell you and Willow. I'm sorry if this makes things weird."

"Think nothing of it! I think that's pretty cool," he swears, "I always been curious on human courting rituals. Luz filled me in by giving me of bunch of these human literature novels. It's mostly pictures though and reminds me of comic books only you have to read them from right to left. Truly fascinating stuff."

"So… would you help me?"

"Of course, anything for a friend in need!" Gus answers. He claps his hands and rubs them together. "So, you want me to fool your twins with my illusion magic? I don't mean to discourage you, but they're in the same track as me. And they're not amateurs at the stuff."

"I know," Amity replied wearily, having been the victim of all the latest tricks they learn in school. "Fooling them can be hard, but we just need something that can get them away so I can take Luz back. They're sharper than anyone would give them credit for. So, I understand if you think it won't be possible-"

"Woah, who said anything about it being impossible?" mused Gus, "I'm just saying normal tricks ain't gonna cut it. We'll just create a copy of you and send it to occupy them. They know you can't cast illusion magic and they wouldn't have a reason to know I'm helping you. It's foolproof!"

"Yeah… that could work!"

Gus raised his hand, "Here's the problem. Creating illusory copies isn't as simple as it looks. It's not just a visual trick. Getting the copy to act, respond, and think like the real one is the challenge. It's easy to copy myself because I'm me. But I don't know enough about you to get a real sense of who you are. Especially after what I just learned."

Amity nods remembering how the twins needed to probe Luz on what exactly she fears to even know what to conjure. He can't just make a copy without knowing much about her, but they don't have the time to sit down and share her life story. "It's just the twins we need to fool, what if I just tell you about them? Would that be enough for a copy?"

"That can work too! Good thinking!" Gus gives her a thumbs up. "We can start now, but if we want this to really work then you have to really be honest with your feelings towards them so I can get a clear idea of what they are to you. We only got one shot of this, after all."

Amity isn't admittedly comfortable about her needing to divulge her relations with her siblings. Still, it is for the sake of their date and there is no way she's going to give them a ghost of a chance to find out about it. At least she doesn't have to flirt on the spot again.

"Well to start, they're both incredibly annoying. Emira can be stuck-up and even pushy, and Edric can get melodramatic. They're nothing but a bunch of slackers who have no idea how lucky they are to be able to get away with their antics while I have to work hard. The only focus they ever put in their lives is finding ways to get under my skin and remember what days to wear their matching outfits!"

Gus is starting not to feel comfortable about this either. Any thoughts he had about having siblings of his own doesn't seem so appealing to him now. "Okay… good stuff, good stuff… but is there also anything positive you see in them? Remember, we need to be as accurate as we can," he reminded her.

Maybe flirting on the spot wasn't the most painful thing she has to do today. Amity crosses her arms and regrettably gives in with a sigh, "I guess if I had to admit something… they can be helpful at times. And maybe supportive in their own way. I don't exactly… hate them for that…"

Gus slyly smiles at her which prompted a sharp "Shut up" from Amity's mouth.

He laughs, "I think I got enough to go on now. Stand still for a sec!" Gus kneels to Amity's feet and began drawing a magic circle around her. After connecting it together, he informs her to step off and then claps his hands. The glyph floats upwards, leaving a column of light behind where a shadowy figure can be seen taking form inside.

The glyph breaks and the light fades, revealing the figure to be the perfect replica of Amity. Gus digs his hand into his pocket full of confetti Luz gave him and tosses it into the air between them. "Tadaa!" he proudly exclaims, "Luz said humans love adding fanfare to their works."

Amity steps up to her Copy and gives it a scrutinizing look. "Impressive," she remarks, "She said you were good, but this is something else."

"Aw, thanks," Gus grins at the compliment. "Just so you know, the Copy should be able to possess the same memories as you. It can't inherit any knew ones you acquire while it is out. But what we need to make sure is its personality. So go on, ask it any questions."

"Alright," Amity glances at the Copy with folded arms to which it mimics. "Back in sixth grade when Boscha refused to speak with me for three days. What happened?"

"She was getting on your nerves, so you tricked her into believing the wall was a secret portal to a gift shop during our field trip to the Coven Museum where she slammed her face into it in front of the class." The Copy grins, "It was pretty funny."

Amity chuckles to herself, "It really was."

"Hardcore," nodded Gus.

"Seems like its working fine to me," Amity noted, "Even got my mannerisms down to a T."

"I guess so, but we should probably do more tests before we-"

"No time!" Amity beckons both to follow her to find Luz and the twins again. "Eda says to come back once it starts getting dark, I'm not wasting anymore daylight!"

"But Amity-"

"Oh, right!" Amity tears a scrap of paper from a flyer hanging on a pole and writes down the address to Eda's store. She hands it to Gus and says, "Thanks for all your help. Like we promised."

Gus abandons all thoughts as the excitement of checking out human treasures completely takes over. With a heartfelt salute, Gus leaves her with the clone and runs off.

Amity takes the Copy with her and cautiously wonders the streets looking for them. They finally come across the group again, this time stopping at a Cosmetics stand where they watch Emira walking with Luz with bags in hand with Edric in tow looking rather disinterested.

"Have you considered letting your hair grow out?" Emira asks while carefully lifting a tuft of Luz's hair and letting it fall back.

Luz instinctively reaches her head and smooths it out with a shaky smile, "O-oh, no, I tried it's… it's not for me."

"That's a shame," Emira said, disappointedly. "Guess you're like our sister. She prefers short hair."

"Really?"

"Hey, Luz!" Edric sticks his head between the two, desperately trying to include himself. "Dare me to swallow this nail polish?"

Emira slaps his hand to let go of her bag, "Ed! This has extracted serpent venom! That stuff can burn a hole through your stomach! And if it doesn't kill you, I'll be sure to finish the job if I ever catch you wasting my products like that!"

"Okay, okay, put the claws away," Edric mumbles while caressing his aching hand.

"There you are."

The group all turns to see Amity approaching them with a sharp irritated look directed at the twins. Luz felt her anxiety level shot up and timidly waves at her.

"Speak of the devil," Emira waves to her little sister while wrapping her other arm around Luz's head. "Sorry for stealing your girlfriend away. Heard you ran off the moment we showed up."

"A-ah!" Luz cries out at the mention of the word.

"Grow up," Amity snaps, "She's not my girlfriend. And I didn't 'ran,' I just needed to use the bathroom."

Even though Luz knows she said it to protect their secret, she still can't help but felt the sharp sting in her heart. Almost as if Emira read the pain Luz just felt there she says, "Oh don't listen to her, Luz. It's not your fault Mittens have poor taste."

"Is there something you want?" Amity growls.

"We just want to check up on you," Edric replied. "You know, since we been convincing mom and dad where you were while you're having fun."

"It's been so boring without you," Emira feigned a yawn. "We're just worried about you."

"Sure, you are," Amity said, rolling her eyes. "Any updates about the house?"

"Oh yeah, dad said he got the call-"

"Good, then let's speak over here," Amity interrupted and starts walking off for them to follow.

"What's wrong with here?" Emira asks.

Amity draws out a tired sigh and glares at them, "Do you really want everyone in public to know our house has been infested? You know what mom will do if she hears about it from someone else."

The twins reluctantly glance at each other and nods, knowing full well of the consequences. Edric pats Luz's shoulder on the way out while Emira ruffles her hair, "We'll be back in a sec. Family matters."

"Okay!" Luz nods, "That's cool, I'll just… stand here then." She watches them disappear between the stands and the crowd of people. Nervously checking her bag and straightening out her hair again, Luz picks up a hushed sound directed to her and turns around to see Amity waving at her.

"Wha-Amity!?" Luz looks back to where the other took the twins and points down the path with one hand while pointing the other at her. "But how did-didn't you-?"

"It's called 'magic,' you doofus," giggled Amity, walking over to her.

"Ohhh right, that is sort of our thing here…" Luz nods feeling foolish. "Wait, you seriously cloned yourself to get rid of them?"

"I didn't want them interrupting our date."

"Amity Blight," Luz places her hands on her hips, "I didn't know you have a mischievous side."

"If you had to bear with those two for all of your life, you'll tend to pick up a trick or two." Amity confidently takes Luz's hand. Her spirits fueled by pulling the wool over the twins' eyes and eager to resume their date. "Come on, let's go before they see us!"

Luz looks down at her bag from the cosmetics stand and tugs her arm back, "Hold on! I, uh… got you something."

Amity pauses in her steps and looks back with stars in her eyes, "You did?"

She hands the bag over to her and anxiously scratches her cheek, "Your siblings helped pay for it. Don't worry, I didn't say it was for you. Emira insisted to get me something. I-I figured to make it a gift to celebrate our first date together. I don't like using this stuff, not that I'm trying to dump them onto you!"

"That's so sweet of you! Thank you, L-" Amity opens the bag and felt her words getting caught in her throat

Luz doesn't notice as she's too flustered to see her reaction. "I didn't know what to get you, so I figured to go with something you're familiar with. They were practically giving those away and-Amity?" She finally looks up and notices her expression wasn't anything she hoped it would be.

Not even a hint of disgust or anger can be seen on her face. Luz never seen Amity so visibly shocked and lost in those eyes that is staring down at the Hair Dying kit with a couple of green bottles. She calls out to her again, "Amity?"

"Huh?" Amity looks up and realizes it too late to play it off as Luz looks at her with concern.

"Do you not like it?"

"I…" Amity looks back down at the gift, feeling with her decision before handing it back to her. "I don't, I'm sorry."

"Is it a bad brand?"

"No, it's…" Amity sighs, figuring it's time to come clean about it. She fidgets with her hair and explains, "I didn't do this to myself… and it wasn't a choice."

"What do you mean by choice? Who would-" The image of parents back in Willow's mind and her nightmares flashes through her head. Piecing it together, her consciousness manifests itself and whispers "Good job, you blew it."

"Dios mio!" Luz cries, "Amity, I'm sorry! I didn't know-"

"No, you wouldn't," she calmly replies. "It's not your fault. I know you only meant well. It's very sweet of you to consider giving me something. I mean it."

At least she doesn't hate her. Luz feels relieved of that but thinking about the times how much she liked her hair being similar to Azura seems so insensitive now. Neither of the twins said anything when she picked out the dyes for herself. Were they aware of Amity's feelings about it at all? Or did they keep quiet, not wanting to share that without her consent?

Amity held onto Luz with both hands and pulls on it. "Hey, I'm serious, it's alright. I'm not going to hold it against you. Let's just forget about it and have fun at the Fair. We did go on this date for us to know each other, right?"

Luz manages a smile for her and nods, "Yeah, we did, didn't we? We better get going before they get back."

Amity agrees and walks Luz over to the direction of the Fair. Luz gets absorbed in thought and silently beats herself for doing something so stupid before feeling the pressure of Amity's grip tightening for her attention.

"You know… I never did get to tell anyone about it," Amity began without facing her. "There wasn't anyone who I considered close enough or even cared enough to share it with. If it had to be anyone… I'm glad it was you."

Luz had been afraid of doing anything to harm their relationship or do anything that would cause Amity to doubt her feelings. She had been so worried that she forgotten the reason why she likes Amity so much. Whether it is to distract her from these worries and fears or to support her through the conflicts in her life, Luz wants to keep that smile of hers.

She presses close to Amity and says, "And I'm glad to be with you." Amity responds back with a small whining sound earning a giggle from Luz.

Watching them running off together from the distance, the Copy glares at the two until they disappear before hearing Amity's name directed at her being called from the twins. "A date, huh?" she turns to leave.

"Wouldn't that be nice?"